oppo's volume control

Oppos do not have an analog volume control. My experience with the 103 straight to amp was mixed. Oppo has said that the unit is designed to have an avr or preamp between it and the amp.

My experience with the Oppo 95, which IS designed to run straight to an amp, was much better. I do prefer a preamp in the mix, however. Others may prefer it straight to amp, it depends on your preferences and speaker characteristics I'd say.

I tried this with my 103. This is a digital volume. I ran it into my Mac 7106. Transparent-Yes. The sound was better through a preamp. An analogue volume sounded better and most preamps have some gain which can make a tremendous difference.

The newer Oppo units (BDP-93/95/103/105) all process the volume at 32 bits internally in the DAC chip(s). This means that you can safely attenuate the volume quite a bit without losing any bits.

I have a BDP-93 which I connected directly to my amp when I had to send my processor in for repairs. This setup worked great and sounded terrific. Go for it, you have nothing to lose...

-RW-

Let me add that, if you connect the Oppo directly to power amps and you use the Oppo's settings for individual distance/delay settings, you must install the newest beta firmware. Earlier versions have a bug which will actually implement the inverse of what you want (e.g., a longer distance when you set it for a shorter one) and this will have a significant impact on stability and imaging.

From what I've read from the main Oppo experts on AVSForums is that the Oppo always sounds better with a pre-amp.

I was looking to upgrade my amp and excluded looking at power amps